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On January the 12th SpaceX launched one of their Falcon 9 rockets, carrying on of their own Dragon capsules, on a resupply mission to the International Space Station. During the mission they also attempted to recapture their first stage, in a technological development that they hope will result in a reusable that could potentially significantly reduce the price of going to space.
The landing attempt was a near success, and we heard reports on twitter that the rocket managed to touch down on the drone ship in the Atlantic, but that it was a near miss resulting in a crash. The drone ship was partially damaged. However the photos and a video has now been recovered.
Elon Musk's Twitter
"Ship itself is fine. Some of the support equipment on the deck will need to be replaced..." 11:10 AM - 10 Jan 2015
"Didn't get good landing/impact video. Pitch dark and foggy. Will piece it together from telemetry and ... actual pieces." 11:15 AM - 10 Jan 2015
"Grid fins worked extremely well from hypersonic velocity to subsonic, but ran out of hydraulic fluid right before landing." 6:17 PM - 10 Jan 2015
"Upcoming flight already has 50% more hydraulic fluid, so should have plenty of margin for landing attempt next month." 6:19 PM - 10 Jan 2015
"Next rocket landing on drone ship in 2 to 3 weeks w way more hydraulic fluid. At least it shd explode for a diff reason." 4:07 PM - 16 Jan 2015
He also confirmed that the hydralic system was an open system, since a closed loop would have weighed more as it requires a pump. Though I've been unable to locate that message.
Video of the Crash: https://vine.co/v/OjqeYWWpVWK
The landing attempt was a near success, and we heard reports on twitter that the rocket managed to touch down on the drone ship in the Atlantic, but that it was a near miss resulting in a crash. The drone ship was partially damaged. However the photos and a video has now been recovered.
Elon Musk's Twitter
"Ship itself is fine. Some of the support equipment on the deck will need to be replaced..." 11:10 AM - 10 Jan 2015
"Didn't get good landing/impact video. Pitch dark and foggy. Will piece it together from telemetry and ... actual pieces." 11:15 AM - 10 Jan 2015
"Grid fins worked extremely well from hypersonic velocity to subsonic, but ran out of hydraulic fluid right before landing." 6:17 PM - 10 Jan 2015
"Upcoming flight already has 50% more hydraulic fluid, so should have plenty of margin for landing attempt next month." 6:19 PM - 10 Jan 2015
"Next rocket landing on drone ship in 2 to 3 weeks w way more hydraulic fluid. At least it shd explode for a diff reason." 4:07 PM - 16 Jan 2015
He also confirmed that the hydralic system was an open system, since a closed loop would have weighed more as it requires a pump. Though I've been unable to locate that message.
Video of the Crash: https://vine.co/v/OjqeYWWpVWK
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